From a technical perspective, we sought design and test feedback from five women. We laid out our design process, told them what we wanted for the women’s line, asked them what skis they wanted, and started to mold the line into where it is now. Feedback was definitely varied, so it took a lot of discussion to finalize the line we ended up with. That variation is the reason we expect to release at least an additional two women’s models in 2016-17.
Were there any hang ups in manufacturing because the contributors and testers were not in house?
The feedback loop is slightly slower, because we have to ship the skis out and can’t just run them up to Hood and ski them ourselves, but overall it was a pretty similar process to our normal ski development.
Did it seem kind of foreign, making a women’s ski, or just doing what you normally do?
It was not all that foreign because we are always designing skis that might not suit everyone at ON3P’s specific personal preference. Our men’s line was already diverse, so we’ve been down a similar path before. The biggest difference was having to rely on feedback from outside ON3P more so than in the past.
The ski made its debut at the SIA Snow Show. How was the general feedback, on and off snow?
Feedback has been great so far. A lot of shop buyers told us they had been waiting for an ON3P women’s line for years, so there was a lot of excitement there. Their on-snow feedback matched their tradeshow excitement, so we expect the Jessie line to perform well in its retail introduction.
How did demos go? Did any of the feedback you received change the design?
Demo days went really well. The biggest feedback we had was interest in a longer size, so we decided to add a 176 cm length after talking to women at demo days. Otherwise, everyone felt the line was dialed. It’s been thumbs up all around, so it’s been validating to hear the good reviews.
Have any of the boys taken the Jessies out for a spin?
Yep! Actually, a bunch of the guys took them out at demo days when similar skis were not available, and feedback was all positive. The changes in the design are subtle, so if you like the men’s variant of the ski, you will likely enjoy the women’s.
Where do you go from now?
In regards to the women’s line, we are already considering two or three additional models for release in 2016-17. The feedback has been so positive that we want to further invest in our women’s line with a few different options. The Jessie line is already in large-scale production, as it represents a good portion of our 2015-16 retail preseason orders.
Will we see any more new things coming from ON3P in the future?
We’re always working on tweaking and improving our line. We can’t say too much at this time, but we are hard at work on our 2016-17 line and there are some bigger changes on their way.
Jessie 86
Lengths: 161, 171, 176
Waist: 86
Turn Radius: 16.8 @ 171
Jessie 100
Lengths: 161, 171, 176
Waist: 100
Turn Radius: 18.2 @ 171
Jessie 112
Lengths: 161, 171, 176
Waist: 112
Turn Radius: 20.1 @ 171
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